The present invention relates to a connector assembly, and more particularly to a connector assembly that includes a male connector housing and a female connector housing that are slidably engageable. A lever is pivotally supported by one of the connector housings to facilitate engagement and disengagement thereof. Operation of the lever mechanically assists the mating of the connector housings to overcome high insertion force.
The mating of male and female connectors to form a connector assembly often involves a high insertion force. This is particularly true when the connectors comprise mating connector housings containing many contacts. For example, automobile wiring systems typically include wiring harnesses. Each harness contains many conductors that are electrically and mechanically connected to respective contacts contained in the harness connector housing. The harness connector housing and the plurality of contacts contained therein are mated with a header connector housing and the contacts contained therein. In such applications, the mating of the harness and header connector housings is often difficult due to the force required to overcome the friction between the mating contacts.
Many attempts have been made using levers to overcome high insertion force when mating male and female connector housings. Some attempts have required that the lever include slits or grooves therein or therethrough that engage pins that extend outwardly from one of the connector housings. Such slits or grooves tend to weaken the lever as well as cause more flexing thereof during use than desired. Some attempts require that the pivoting and camming elements be located on the outside of the connector assembly. The use of pivoting and camming elements external of the connector assembly is undesirable. Such pivot and camming elements prevent a smooth seal and therefore are not useful in a sealed connector environment. Another problem incurred is that there is a tendency in some connector assemblies for the lever to prematurely rotate out of the desired assembly position. A further concern is that in those applications wherein multiple connectors are stacked upon each other, there is a tendency for the latch that secures the lever in place when the connector housings are mated, to fail. Another concern is that due to the flexible nature of the material commonly used in fabricating known connector assemblies, there is a tendency for the joined connector housings to become inadvertently locked together when they are not properly aligned and are forced together. In such instances it may be impossible to unmate the connector housings without causing damage to one or both of the housings. In some known connector assemblies, misaligned connector housings may not be detected by the user until they are already locked together.
An example of one prior art connector assembly is U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,383 that issued on Jun. 21, 1994 to Saito et al. This patent relates to a lever-type connector including two housings wherein a lever is pivotally connected by pivot shafts to one of the housings to provide leverage during mating of the two. In such embodiment, it is necessary to provide cam grooves in opposing inner surfaces of the lever. The grooves mate with respective guide pins to facilitate engagement of the connectors. A similar device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,998 that issued on Dec. 22, 1992 to Hatagishi. In the Hatagishi embodiment, opposing cam slits extend completely through the lever.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,751 that issued on Jan. 24, 1967 to Fraley, a lever is provided to facilitate the mating of connector elements, such lever including a slot that extends through the lever. The lever is attached to a top plate by a screw extending outwardly of a top section of the top plate. Another screw mates with the slot to facilitate movement of the connector elements. Each screw is external of the device.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,935 that issued on Oct. 15, 1996 to Yagi et al., a connector engagement device is illustrated that includes two lever-type cam members pivoted upon respective externally extending pins. Each cam member includes cam grooves that mate with externally extending pins. The cam members are also provided with teeth that mesh so that the two cam members can be operated interlock with each other in directions different from each other.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved connector assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that includes a lever that is mounted externally of mated connector housings and camming features that are located within the connector assembly.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that includes a lever that is mounted externally of mated connector housings and lever pivot elements that do not extend outwardly from the connector assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that includes a lever that does not include camming features in the form of grooves or slits therein or therethrough.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that includes a lever that will not rotate prematurely out of the desired assembly position.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that may be stacked with one or more other connector assembly without failure of the latch that secures the lever in place when mating connector housings are fully engaged.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly wherein the likelihood of mismating connector housings is minimized.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a connector assembly that provides tactile feedback to the user thereof if the connector housings are not properly aligned.
The present invention achieves these and other objects in a first embodiment by providing a connector assembly that includes at least one first connector housing and at least one second connector housing slidably engaging within the first connector housing. The second connector housing comprises a first and second cam projection. A lever is pivotally supported on the first connector housing by at least one pivot element extending through a wall of the first connector housing. The lever comprises at least one lever portion adapted (a) to engage a wall of the first connector housing in a first lever position to prevent pivotal movement of the lever, and (b) to be disengaged from the wall of the first connector housing by a first cam projection in a second lever position to permit pivotal movement of the lever. The pivot element comprises a first region that comprises a cam follower adapted to engage a second cam projection in an engagement and disengagement mode when the lever is pivoted in an engagement direction or in an opposite disengagement direction, respectively, to urge the first and second connector housings towards or away from each other, respectively.
In a second embodiment of the present invention a connector assembly is provided that comprises at least one first connector housing and at least one second connector housing slidably engaging within the first connector housing. The second connector housing comprises a multi-surface first cam projection. A lever is provided that is pivotally supported on the first connector housing by at least one pivot element extending through a wall of the first connector housing. The pivot element comprises a first region that includes a multi-surface second cam projection. The first and second cam projections are structured and arranged so that (a) at least a first surface area of the first cam projection will engage at least a first surface area of the second cam projection, when the first and second connector housings are in a misalignment mode thereby preventing pivoting of the lever in an engagement direction; (b) at least a second surface area of the first cam projection will mate with at least a second surface area of the second cam projection when the first and second connector housings are in a first stage of an alignment mode thereby permitting pivoting of the lever in the engagement direction; and (c) at least a third surface area of the first cam projection will mate with the first surface area of the second cam projection when the lever is pivoted in an engagement direction or in an opposite disengagement direction, respectively, in a second stage of the alignment mode, to urge the first and second connector housings towards or away from each other, respectively.